1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to encoding and decoding of a video by using block merging for prediction encoding.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to encode blocks in a current image, video compression technologies generally use a motion estimation/compensation method that uses prediction information of a most similar block from among neighboring blocks, and a compression method that reduces a size of video data by removing redundant data by encoding a differential signal between a previous image and a current image through a discrete cosine transform (DCT).
As hardware for reproducing and storing high resolution or high quality video content has been developed and supplied, a demand for a video codec for effectively encoding or decoding the high resolution or high quality video content has increased. In a related art video codec, a video is encoded according to a limited encoding method based on a macroblock having a predetermined size. Also, the related art video codec encodes and decodes video data by performing transformation and inverse transformation on macroblocks by using blocks each having the same size.